1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a solid ink jet image forming apparatus that forms an image by melting solid ink and firing the melted ink onto a printing medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, image forming apparatuses print an image onto a printing medium, such as paper or OHP (overhead projector) film. Examples of image forming apparatuses include printers, copiers, and facsimile machines, along with multi-function apparatuses which combine the functions of these devices. Image forming apparatuses are classified in various ways, such as, for example, as an electrophotographic type image forming apparatuses, ink jet type image forming apparatuses, dye sublimation type image forming apparatuses, etc. In the ink jet type image forming apparatus, an ink jet image forming apparatus that forms an image by melting solid ink and firing the melted ink onto a printing medium is called a “solid ink jet image forming apparatus.”
The solid ink is manufactured by mixing resin with ink and forming a block which has a predetermined size. The solid ink is in a solid state at room temperature and converts to a liquid state when heated. The solid ink jet image forming apparatus includes an ink supplying unit which contains solid ink and which melts the solid ink to supply the melted ink for printing, and a printing unit which receives the melted ink from the ink supplying unit and which fires the melted ink onto a printing medium to form an image.
A conventional method for loading the solid ink will now be described. A media output tray disposed on an upper portion of an image forming apparatus receives the printing media after printing. The media output tray includes a door which opens an ink supplying unit. The ink supplying unit is exposed to the outside by opening the door upward after removing the printing media from the media output tray. Then, solid ink is inserted into the exposed ink supplying unit.
If the image forming apparatus is a multifunction apparatus with a scanner function, the image forming apparatus includes a scanning unit, an ink supplying unit, and a printing unit. Generally, the image forming apparatus is opened by rotating the scanning unit. If a door is provided between the scanning unit and the ink supplying unit, the scanning unit is rotated to expose the door and then the door is opened to insert solid ink into the ink supplying unit.
For convenience, a wide area of the top of the image forming apparatus should be exposed to load the solid ink. After the solid ink is inserted, the door is closed for printing. The above-described solid ink loading method should be improved to make the process of loading solid ink into the image forming apparatus more simple for users. Furthermore, foreign substances may fall into the image forming apparatus when the door is opened.
Furthermore, since the addition of the ink supplying unit increases the size of the image forming apparatus, the packing size of the image forming apparatus increases, causing a corresponding increase in physical distribution costs. Therefore, an ink supplying unit and an image forming apparatus with reduced sizes are desirable.
The scanning unit includes a flat glass plate to place a document on, an image sensor disposed under the flat glass to scan the document, and a driving unit which moves the image sensor. The scanning unit considerably increases the weight of the image forming apparatus. Generally, a hinge is provided in a top corner of the image forming apparatus to rotate the scanning unit. When the scanning unit is rotated to insert the solid ink, the center of mass of the scanning unit moves in the direction approaching the outside of the printing unit, thereby increasing the possibility of damage to the image forming apparatus due to overturning of the image forming apparatus.